Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
by HannahMCR
Summary: A Remus-centric songfic to Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by the Animals. Canon character deaths, with a hint of Remus/Tonks.


Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

_(AN: A songfic to Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by the Animals. Lyrics included for reference. Remus-centric.)_

Baby, do you understand me now  
>Sometimes I feel a little mad<br>But don't you know that no one alive  
>Can always be an angel<br>When things go wrong I seem to be bad

Remus Lupin, a young child with lycanthropy forced upon him at too early an age, cowered in a corner as a wizard from town yelled at his mother. Apparently, during the full moon last night, he'd killed several sheep.

"It's only a matter of time until he kills one of us! It's time you got rid of him. Send him away, I don't care where."

His mother, a good soul, was tired and flustered from the struggle of caring for a preteen werewolf. "He can't help it. He's nearly eleven, he'll be going to Hogwarts soon."

"He's not going to get into Hogwarts; he's too dangerous. You know that. The Muggles are getting suspicious." He cast a look at Remus. "They're starting to disbelieve the rumors that this is a regular wolf killing their livestock." He sighed. "I know it's not the kid's fault, and you have my every sympathy, but he's dangerous."

"I'm doing everything I can, but I can't leave him locked up, he'll tear the house down."

Remus picked at some scabs in his corner and tried to pretend they weren't talking about him.

But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good  
>Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood<p>

For his mother's birthday, which happened to fall on a full moon, Remus tried to make her something, only to notice that he'd lost track of time (and so had his mother), so he transformed right in his room.

The next morning he cried over the broken picture frame and the torn Wizarding photo, the only one he had where he had no scars on his face and saw no pain in his mother's eyes while she held him.

He taped the present together with Spellotape and handed it to his mother. She sobbed for the better part of an hour.

Baby, sometimes I'm so carefree  
>With a joy that's hard to hide<br>And sometimes it seems that all I have do is worry  
>Then you're bound to see my other side<p>

Remus was a thoughtful child, prone to periods of silence. But when Albus Dumbledore came to visit him and told him he could come to Hogwarts, werewolf or not, he whooped for joy and hugged the bearded wizard.

He had slipped out of the room to grab some money for a trip to Diagon Alley. The adults were still talking about him, when they thought he couldn't hear.

"Is he always this excited about things?"

"He's a happy child."

"That's very good. One would think – with his numbers of troubles – that he'd be rather somber."

"He's happy at heart."

"I think he'll fit in well at Hogwarts."

But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good  
>Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood<p>

The first full moon away from his parents was the hardest. He hated to lie to his new friends. He scratched himself badly, again, on the face and tried to get Madam Pomfrey to put a Glamour on him, but she forbid it. Dark scars – like the one that came from Dark creatures, as Remus was – were tricky with concealing magic. Of course, James and Sirius made up wonderful stories about it that made him blush and seem like a hero, but he knew at heart that he was nothing of the sort.

If I seem edgy I want you to know  
>That I never mean to take it out on you<br>Life has it's problems and I get my share  
>And that's one thing I never meant to do<br>Because I love you

One full moon second year, Remus snapped at everyone. He was tired, he was irritable, and his ribs hurt where he had scratched himself. Sirius took him aside and told him they knew. He sobbed in his bed with the curtains closed for a time. When he came out, Remus sat with the three other boys and talked, listening to them say how cool it was to be a werewolf, and, once Remus had set them straight on how terrible it really was, how they didn't care, and how he was still their friend. He tried to sneakily wipe his tears off, and was glad to have such loyal friends.

Oh, Oh baby don't you know I'm human  
>Have thoughts like any other one<br>Sometimes I find myself long regretting  
>Some foolish thing some little simple thing I've done<p>

James, Sirius and Peter joked about it for a while, but stopped when they realized how angry it made him. They promised to be Animagi, and join him. He bitterly thanked them and rolled his eyes, expecting to always be alone. He kept a straight face on when he went to classes with his ribs taped and terrified of nightfall, remembering how close he'd came to killing Snape. He'd pleaded with Dumbledore to send him away, and Dumbledore had simply smiled and told him he wasn't dangerous. Severus never forgave him.

But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good  
>Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood<p>

While things got better after fifth year, with James, Sirius, and Peter to keep him company when he transformed, things got worse after James died. No more Prongs. Sirius was in Azkaban. No more Padfoot. Peter was supposedly dead, then found to be alive, then found to be a traitor, then was really dead. No more Wormtail. Now it wasn't Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, the Marauders, it was back to just Moony.

Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good  
>Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood<p>

He had Sirius back for a painfully short time, then he met Nympadora Tonks. While now was not a good time to fall in love, nor was he a good person to fall in love with, the first time he kissed Tonks was special. She had begged and pleaded with him to accept her love, for she didn't care about the wolf inside him. He consented to marry her despite his fears, worried over his unborn son and, when he finally had a family, loved them all the more.

Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good  
>Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood<p>

In the moments before Dolohov killed Remus, he hoped that his son and wife would survive him, and that they would be happy. He thought of Harry and hoped that _he _would succeed in defeating Voldemort to ensure that the world would be a better place. He thought of the wolf inside of him, and mentally shook its hands, finally at peace with himself as he died.

_(AN: What'd ya think? I enjoy Remus as a character, so I had fun writing this.)_


End file.
